Auxiliary light for automobiles



Dec. 25, 1951 L. DAWLEY 2,579,653

AUXILIARY LIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. 9, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet l Ieonarditu/ .Zizrizi'br.

Dec. 25, 1951 DAWLEY 2,579,653

AUXILIARY LIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. -9, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 25, 195] DAWLEY 2,579,653 7 AUXILIARY LIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. 9, 1947 I I 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ||H|,| LI t "w 25' ,es jizya J1 J1 J8 S T .55 1 5w #7 J0-- I I, i1 5;" "W" z jeana rqZ 1761 Why Iav TZZ? 21 Dec. 25, 1951 L. DAWLEY, 2,579,653

AUXILIARY LIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. 9, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNI TED STAT ES PATENT 0. F F ICE IJI'GHT FDR AUTOMOBILES; leonardtllaw ol in N- 11-.

Application September 9, 1947, Serial No. 772,947

7 Qlaims! My in nt elat s.- to an: auxil ary om n e cy sl e t designed foruse gene als-with ll Qw mobiles of various types; but it is; particularly, adapted for trucks.

O of; the objects of; y i ven ion-is 1ight-unit as-an emergency light vfor purposesnot heretofore-possible to-include-under the use or an! ordinary-flash light; such as; commonly; resorted. to; and withtnis inview Lhotfirnrovicleda sealed beamlight-unitavailableat alhtime l as a trouble and emergency lightand have;- so" arranged the same tha the li ht may e: e ective yu e la n mer enci s of; r ous kin s. nolu nes c a equire si na o warn ngs. a; di ta o ward of: anau mo i iw o may bestal edtor a dis: stance in ea o thesa -l The invention also; has: for an; Object; to; so detachably mount androfl nect. thelight-nnit with the source of electric. current utilized: for; the automobile or truck; thatin, the-event of; one of: th ead liehtsl e ming urnedi uto i otherwise fai in t f n ti n his mpr ved m tsenor light-unit may be wired r-othenwise fastenedto the automobile on truckv in front. oradjacent to the-burned out li ht SQ that-the automobilemay be driven with perfectsafety. 11 111 11 a new sealed; beam light-unit can be; substituted: for the. up: serviceable one.

y invention; cons ts: in the; novel. fea u es o construction and in thearrangement anc1.combination of parts:tobeihereinaflter described, and moreparticularly pointedout. in the. subjoined claims.

In the drawings Fig. l; is. a longitudinal SE09 tional view through the. portion, of a, hood. on: closing a motor of. an automobile and showing the usual dash board between! the drivers area oi the autom bile and the. motor;- myinvention be ng hown c r d. b he atm oerd n arranged in a. plane above therear portion of, the motor and preferably tq one thereof.

2 i a similar vie s ow g the meiotomitted and howin only the support or mount: ing for, the sealed-beamv light unitand the brack: t to w i h a dsupno tot mounting is s cured.-

Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view. of the ealedam lisbtrun t. the, connector. fr me. or ca r y means f. whic t s se ur d t the support or mounting, and; diagrammatically showing the current-conducting wires, the connection thereof to the battery, the groundin thereof and the interposition ofthe ammeter and switch, all to the end tha t thej unitmay be lighted independently of the remaininglights of the automobile.

' Fig. 4 is a top plan view of my invention showing the same supported from: the; dash board ot Fig. 4, lookingin thesdirectionof the arrow cross v ing said line.

Fig.- 6 isa vertical sectionitakenon line lie- 5,

Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrqwi crossing saidlineithe sealed-beamlight-unit and part of the support being shown in elevation.

Fig. 7 is ahorizontal section takemon line-F11. Fig. 5 the current-conducting;cordloeing omitted.

Fig. 8 is. a verticalsectiontakenon line. 8:8 Fig; 5, lookingmin the direction of. thelarrow cross: ing said line.

Fig. 9 is a cross section through: a modified, form. of ring or annulus, forming part oi 17116100111 nector frame or carrier andrshqwing. thelmanner of applying. said: ring or annulus. tothesealedbeam light-unit Fig. 10 is a modification; of the. support or mounting to which. the sealed-beam light-unit and its connector frame or carrier is. detachaloly applied.

Fig; 11, is a. top plan View of, the connector frame. or carrier shown. inliig. 10. and theman; nerin. which itis, secured to the; automobile.

Fig. 12-1 is asectipn taken on line P2712, Fig. 11, looking in thedirection of thearrow crossng, said line.

Fig. 13 is a. side. elevation of the support Q1? mounting in still further modified. form,

Fig. 14. is. a plan vie o he me- Fig-r15 is. a sectiontaken on line l,5, ,-l5,,Fig. 14,

Reference being had. to. the, drawings. in le-1 tail, the. numeral 211 designates. the clash-board of an automobile, under whichterm a truck or other motor-driven vehicle is. to be included, sepmating t e: d ivers compartmentor region f om he. motor compar ment. 2|. repr sents he h od o he mot r compartment, usua y movable in Sections n bl h m t r r o her rartsw i r in the motor compartment to be easily reached 21 designates. the. QtQr which may be f desi n. or const uc iony dev ce i iid s su ble ias n mea h ch ma be. fast ned t spe t h au m b in n a roved. mann r p era Within the motor compartment underneath the hood 2 I. and in preferred form I employ a bracket 23 which is forrned of heavy strip metal bent into angular formation to provide two arms 24, 2'5 arm 24 being secured to the dash-board; 2!] by means or screw-bolts 26 or otherwise, while the arm 25 extends forwardly a suitable distance to secure to its outer or free end a support or mounting 2? having a sealed-beam light-unit or header 28 is an inverted substantially U- shaped member 32 comprising a cross piece 33, shown disposed at a right-angle to the vfiat member or header 28, and depending arms 34, preferably flared along their lower portions and having outstanding terminals or lugs 35 at their lower ends. The said U-shaped member is fastened to the underside of the flat member or header 28 by means of screw-bolts 36 passed through the bracket 23, the parallel slots 29 and through openings formed in the cross piece 33, nuts 36a being applied to the downwardly projecting terminals of said screw-bolts to Secure the U-shaped member securely to said flat member or header.

Although the inverted U-shaped member 32 is shown disposed at a right-angle to the fiat member or header 28, there are instances where it would be found desirable to have the U-shaped member disposed at a different angle, particularly when the depending arms thereof interfere with parts of the motor or other apparatus underneath the hood. The use of the parallel slots 29 will permit of various angular positions for said U-shaped member.

Pivotally secured to the loops or eyes 3! are 2 depending clamping rods 31 which are formed of round bar material flattened at their upper ends and having openings therein through which openings and the loops or eyes 3| pivots 38 are passed. Normally these clamping rods hang independently from the ends of the flat member or header 28, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and they have wing or other nuts 40 threaded onto their lower ends, said ends being threaded for a distance upwardly from their terminals.

A sealed-beam light-unit 4| is adapted to be detachably secured to the support 21, and this unit may be of any approved construction, such as used as head lights on passenger cars, trucks and other types of automobiles. The light-unit is attached to a carrier or holder 42 and this carrier or holder includes light-holding element in the form of a split ringor annulus 43 clamped around the light-unit, the ring or annulus where split being provided with outwardly-directed lugs 44 normally spaced apart and having a clamping bolt 45 passed therethrough. In order to assure a secure fastening of the ring or annulus 43 to the light-unit, a ring of felt 46 or other compressible material is interposed between the rim of the light-unit and the split ring or annulus.

Welded or otherwise secured to or formed on said ring or annulus 43, at diametrically opposite points thereof, are fastening elements 41, each formed of fiat strip metal bent at a right angle to form a short arm "which may be welded or otherwise fastened to the outer side of the split ring or annulus and an outstanding long arm 49. This fastening element may be made integral with the split ring 43, as shown in Fig. 5, and in this modified form these fastening elements 41 are in the form of comparatively long lugs, also 4 designated 49, extending outwardly from the upper marginal portion of the split ring. The said split ring or annulus, which may be referred to as a clampin ring, and the fastening elements 41 form part of fastenin means for detachably fastening the light-unit to the support 21, and included in this fastening means to hold the said clamping ring in spaced relation to the fiat member or header 28 of the support are what may be termed connector or spacing arms 58. These arms have their lower ends secured to the fastening elements 41 and for this purpose they have outwardly-directed terminals 5|, which are bolted to the fastening elements 41, as at 52, so that the clamping ring or annulus 43 and the arms 58 serve as the carrier or holder 42 for the sealed-beam light-unit 4 I. These arms have outwardly-directed lugs or terminals 53' at their up-- per ends which are adapted to lie in contact with the under side of the flat member or header 28 forming part of the support 21. The long arms 49 of the fastening elements 41 and the outwardly-directed terminals 51 at the lower ends of the arms 50, which arms are vertically disposed, form outwardly-directed ears 54 at diametrically opposite sides of the clamping ring or annulus 43. The ears 54 are preferably formed of twothicknesses of strip metal to furnish the necessary rigidity desired at this point, and these cars are slotted, as at 55. The outwardly-directed lugs or terminals 53 at the upper ends of the vertically-disposed arms are also slotted, as at 56. With the carrier thus constructed, the clampin rods 31 are passed through the slots 56 of the outwardly-directed lugs or terminals 53, and through the slots of the cars 54 and while holding the carrier with the light-unit against the support 21, the wing or other nuts 40 may be tightened, and when tightened the light-unit will be rigidly secured to the support 21. It will be apparent that the carrier or holder 42 with its light-unit can, therefore, be easily applied to and as readily removed from the support.

Like the depending arms 34 of the inverted U- shaped member 32 forming part of the support or mounting, the vertically disposed arms 50 are flared outwardly along their lower portions, and these arms are utilized in conjunction with the depending arms 34 of said U-shaped member to retain a long length of current-conducting wire for the sealed-beam light-unit.

The current-conducting wire is preferably a duplex wire having two wires 51, 58 passed there through and separated from each other where connection is made to parts of the apparatus or parts associated therewith, both wires 51 and 58 being connected to the light-unit, as shown at 59; wire 51 being grounded at the remote or free end of the duplex wire, as at 60, while the wire 58 may be led to the ammeter 6| of the automobile, said ammeter having a wire 62 leading therefrom to the battery of the automobile or truck, indicated at 63, and said battery having a wire 64 leading to the frame of the automobile or truck, or being otherwise grounded, as indiand upwardlm: after which the" current conduct ing wires may be wound around the.-carricr or holderout side of the dependingparmstd and the connectoror spacing arms50. The clamping rods- 31 may thenbe, swung downwardly throughthe slots 56 in -the lugsor terminals 53 of. the carrier orholder and into the slots 55 inthe cars. 54 and thenuts 40 tightened. This may also be accomplished by winding the wire loosely around the connector or spacing arms 50 before attaching the carrier or holder-to thesupport 21 and when.

operator'of the automobile to use thezlight-unit .byfastening it: tothe automobile so as to direct rays of light aheadand' assure safety in travel in. the; event the normal lighting system fails, and

in the event'of a tire becoming deflated, the lightunit can be positioned adjacent the deflated tire, so that the operator of the car can exchange the deflated tire for aninflated one. Many other ad- Vantagesmaybehad by the. use of my improved light.

While I. have illustrated a split clamping ring.

or annulus formed of flat material, I prefer to utilize a modified form of: ring or annulus, in which the material is transversely concaved interioriy, as shown in Fig; 9,- andby placing the clamping ring so. formed aroundthe rim of. the light-unit, the possibility of the latter, under strain or jarring of the automobile, becoming removedfrom the. clamping ring is entirely eliminated. In this modified form of clamping device, the, ring or annulus is designated by the numeral 43 and the ring of, felt or other compressible material by the numeral 46*.

In the preferred construction of my inventionJ have shown a bracket 23 fastened to the usual dash-board of an automobile or truck and carrying the support for the light-unit, but in some instances trucks are provided with channel bars extending longitudinally underneath the hood covering the motor compartment, and such a channel bar is-shown in Figs. 10, l1 and 12 of the drawings and is designated by the numeral 51. modified form ofmy approved support will enable the light-unitto be fastened to the channelbar, and for this purpose, spacedapart clamp-- ingelements 68 arefastened to the upper side of the flat member or header 23, said clamping mem hers being of Z-formation so as to provide vertical arms 69 having inwardly-directed lugs and outwardly-directed lugs "H. Screw bolts 12 are passed through the outwardly-directed lugs and throughthe parallel slots 29 inthe flat memberorheader 28, while the. inwardly-directed lugs 10 extend over and lie in contact with the/upper surface of thechannel baraGl.

The clamping elements tilmay have a clamping bolt 13 passed through its vertical arms, but in some instancesthe screw bolts 12: will be sufficient to guard against detachment of, the support orholder from the channel bar. It willbe apparent that the channel bar may vary in width and that the clamping elements; can be adjusted accordingly, since the screw bolts 12 are adjustable inthe parallel" slots 29.. I-f'desired, the clampingbolt'lll may be vertically adjustable in the ver- Bil tical arms 89 of, the clampingelements and. 1011:

this; purposeeach of, these vertical arms isprovided with ayerticalslot [4, through which the clamping bolt is passed.

Some trucks have cylindrical rods,. such shown at 15, extending from the front, rearwardly to the body of the truck, and these rods are invariably arranged. to converge in a forward di;- rection. These rods are usually at opposite sides;

of the longitudinal center of the motor compartment and in Figs. 13, to 15 I have shown a. support. modified in construction and adapted for; connection with such rod. In this modification.

the flat member or header of the support 21 is placed againstthe underside of the rod and a clip piece 16 applied to the upper side of therod, said clip. piece extending beyond therod at each side" thereoffand having screw bolts 'i'l passed therethroughand through the parallel slots 29 in the flat member'or header. the support 21, nuts 18 being applied tothe lower ends of said screw. bolts and impinging, against the-underside of saidflat,

member or header. Theendsof the clip pieceare preferably turneddown, as shown in Fig. 13.

Screw bolts 36b are employed in said modificaetions to fasten the inverted U-shaped member 32 to the fiat member or header 28, the bolts being. countersunk into the latter, as clearly shown.

in Fig. 15. Nuts 350 are employed to tightensaid screw bolts, and for this, purpose the slots of saidv preferably within the motor compartment of the;

automobile, also that there may: be various ways: in which a light-unit. maybe detachably secured to the support. 7

Where, in the appended claims, reference is made, to an automobileit is intended to include passenger cars, buses, trucks and other types of vehicles in. which a source of, electric current is providedfor causing the motor. of the automobileto function and for lighting the conventional. lights with which the automobile is equipped.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An emergency light for automobiles, comprising an elongatedmember having loops at opposite ends, an inverted U-shaped member dc pending from said elongated member and, dis-z posed at an angle thereto, meansfor attaching said elongated member to a part of the automoe bile, depending clamping rods pivotally connect ed at their upper endsto said loops, a light carrier comprising a split annulus having outstanding lugs. at diametrically opposite points and spacing members between said annulus and said elongated member having outstanding. lugs at their upper ends bearing against the underside of said elongated member and provided with slots through which said clamping rods are passed and lugs at their lower ends, the lugs of} said annulus and the lugs atthe lower ends of. said spacing members being slotted to receive said clamping rods, said clamping rods having theiriowcr ends threaded, nuts applied to said threaded lower ends impinging age-inst the an. dersides of. the lugs of said annulus; alight: unit clamped withinsaid annulus, and current-cone ducting wires connected to. said light-unit and awaess'r wound around said spacing members and said inverted U-shapedmember and having connection with the battery of the automobile, said current-conducting wires being connected to the ammeter of the automobile and having a switch therein by means of which said light-unit may be controlled, said current-conducting wires being arranged to be uncoiled from said spacing member and said inverted U-shaped member so that upon loosening said clamping rods said light-unit and light carrier may be moved to any desired position permitted by the uncoiled lengths of said current-conducting wires.

2. An emergency light for automobiles, comprising a support having an elongated member provided with parallel slots along the major portion of its length, a bracket applied to a part of the automobile, screws passed through said bracket and through the slots of said elongated member and having nuts applied thereto to fasten said elongated member to said bracket,

clamping rods secured to opposite ends of said elongated member, a carrier having outstanding lugs through which said clamping rods are passed, nuts applied to said clamping rods to secure said carrier to said elongated member, a sealed-beam light-unit secured to said carrier, current-conducting wires connected to said light-unit and receiving electric current from the battery of the automobile, said current-conducting wires being wound around said carrier and adapted to be unwound so as to enable the light unit to be positioned anywhere within the reach of said current-conducting wires when uncoiled, and means for making and breaking the current as desired, independently of the current controlling other lights of the automobilev 3. An emergency light for automobiles in which a channel bar is included within the motor com partment, comprising an elongated member having depending clamping rods at opposite ends, Z-shaped clamping members secured to the upper side of said elongated member and disposed at opposite sides of said channel bar to engage the same at the top and sides thereof, clamping screws passed through said clamping members to clamp the latter to said channel bar, a carrier removably attached to said elongated clamping member by means of said clamping rods, a light-unit secured within said carrier, and current-conducting wires connected to said lightunit and'coiled or folded in compact space adjacent the latter in a manner to permit their being extended to reach any distant point of the automobile and thus enable the light-unit to be used at such distant point, said current-conducting wires being in electrical connection with the battery of the automobile.

4. An emergency light for automobiles in which forwardly-converging rods are included within the motor compartment, comprising an elongated member having depending clamping rods at opposite ends, a clip piece overlying one of said forwardly-converging rods and having securing screw bolts passed therethrough and through said elongated member, a carrier removably attached to said elongated clamping member by means of said clamping rods, a lightunit secured within said carrier, and currentconducting wires connected to said light-unit and coiled or folded in compact space adjacent the latter in a manner to permit their being extended to reach any distant point of the automobile and thus enable the light-unit to be used at such distant point, said current-conducting wires being in electrical connection with the battery of the;

automobile. I

5. An emergency light for v automobiles in which a channel bar is included within the motor compartment, comprising an elongated member outwardly directed lugs bearing against the upper side of said elongated member, screws passed through said outwardly directed lugs and' through the parallel slots of said elongated member, nuts applied to said screws and bearing against the underside of said elongated member, said vertical arms having transversely alined vertical slots, a clamping bolt passed through said vertical slots and clamping said clamp elements against said channel bar, a light carrier detachably secured to said elongated member by means of said clamping rods, alight-unit se-' cured to said carrier and detachable therewith from said elongated member, and current-conducting wires connected to said light-unit and normally retained within a small area adjacent said light-unit, said current-conducting wires being capable of extension to reach any desired point within or adjacent the automobile which emergency requires, and means to control the light of said light-unit independently of other lights of the automobile.

6. An emergency light for automobiles, comprising an elongated member, an inverted 'U- shaped member fastened to and disposed midlength of said elongated member, means for attaching said elongated member to a part of an automobile, clamping rods connected at their upper ends to the ends of said elongated mem ber, a light-carrier to which a sealed-beam lightunit is secured including a light-holding element and spacing members between said light-holding element and said elongated member, said spacing members serving to space said lightholding element the desired distance from said elongated member, said light carrier being de tachably supported from said elongated member through the medium of said clamping rods, and current conducting wires connected to said lightunit and adapted to be wound around said spacing members and said inverted U-shaped member and capable of being unwound therefrom so that upon loosening said clamping rods, said lightunit and light-carrier may be moved as a unit to any desired position permitted by the uncoiled limits of said current-conducting wires. '7. An emergency light for automobiles, comprising an elongated member having loops at opposite ends, an inverted U-shaped member depending from said elongated member and disposed at an angle thereto; means for attaching said elongated member to a part of the automobile; depending clamping rods pivotally con nected at their upper ends to said'loops, a light carrier having outstanding slotted lugs at its upper end bearing against the under side of said elongated member and a, circular light-holding element at its lower end, said clamping rods being passed through the slots of said lugs and having their lower ends secured to said circular light-holding element; a light-unit fastened within said circular light-holding element and current-conducting wires connected to said lightunit, said current-conducting wires being coiled and arranged to be uncoiled so that upon loosening said clamping rods, said light-units and light carrier may be moved as a unit to any desired position permitted by the uncoiled limits of said current conducting wires.

LEONARD DAWLEY.

REFERENQES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hall et al July 18, 1899 Number Number 10 Name Date Corbett et a1 Apr. 4, 1911 Hikonow Oct. 4, 1921 Moore July 29, 1924 Little Dec. 15, 1925 Downing Aug. 14, 1928 Kenney Aug. 10, 1937 Stumpf Aug. 17, 1937 Lee Apr. 19, 1938 Dickson Aug. 1, 1939 Bryk Nov. 12, 1940 Bosten et a1 Nov. 23, 1943 Stoeck et a1 July 29, 1947 Stelmack Jan. 27, 1948 

